This application relates to the treatment of ingrowing nails, especially ingrowing toenails, and includes a method of treating this especially painful and troublesome condition using a topically applied pharmaceutical composition.
Ingrowing nail or unguis incarnatus, especially ingrowing toenail, a frequent nail malady, occurs chiefly on the great toes where there occurs an "abnormal" nail growth into the nail fold, leading to a painful and inflammatory condition. In some cases the edge of the nail apparently acts as a foreign body and often results in extreme pain and (possibly) granulation of the affected tissue. The condition may be caused by wearing improperly fitting shoes, by improper trimming of the toenail, or by a physical pressure which might occur to the nail through an accident or other similar conditions. It is believed that the above conditions generally create the beginning of the affliction of an ingrowing toenail; however, the specific cause may be due to one or several conditions, many of which are unknown.
The most widely accepted method for relief of this problem is the surgical removal of the entire nail to relieve the pressure. In some instances, the surgical procedure of removing the overhanging lateral nail fold is used, that is, removing the affected tissue adjacent to the affected nail. Under the latter method, the nail itself is not altered or removed. This procedure is described in Andrews' Diseases of the Skin, 6th Ed., p. 878.